核心畫面

Think of a wall coming down: broken stone, an open roof, a shape you can still recognise but can no longer use. Ruinous keeps that picture of collapse. Sometimes the word sits on the thing that has already fallen. Sometimes it sits on the force strong enough to bring something else down. What collapses may be a building, a business, or the money a family had put aside.

ruinous 可以想成「倒塌」這個畫面。一面牆垮下來,屋頂開了天,形狀還認得出來,但已經不能用了。這個字的三個用法更多收起ruinous 可以想成「倒塌」這個畫面。一面牆垮下來,屋頂開了天,形狀還認得出來,但已經不能用了。這個字的三個用法都還帶著那個畫面。有時候它貼在已經垮掉的東西上。有時候它貼在把別的東西推垮的那股力量上。垮掉的可以是建築,也可以是一門生意,或一個家存下來的錢。

From the word’s history

The supplied source traces ruinous through Middle English ruynous and Old French ruinos to Latin ruinosus, and analyses it on the surface as ruin + -ous.

來源把 ruinous 追到中古英語 ruynous、古法語 ruinos,再回到拉丁文 ruīnōsus;表面上拆開來就是 ruin(毀壞、廢墟)加上 -ous(帶有…性質的)。字面意思是「帶著崩塌性質的」,這正好對上今天三個用法共有的那個倒下來的畫面。

Wiktionary entry for 'ruinous' as supplied in this batch's evidence packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:901894312)

Two branches

自己已經塌成廢墟

這一家最貼近核心畫面:形容詞直接貼在那棟垮掉的建築上,說它「就是廢墟的樣子」。

adjective · C2

Used about a building, a wall or other structure that has fallen down so badly that only broken parts are left standing. The source marks this use as formal.

破敗傾頹的

強到把別的東西推垮

同樣是倒塌的畫面,只是鏡頭從倒下來的東西,移到讓它倒下來的那股力量上。

adjective · C1

Causing so much damage or trouble that the thing it hits is broken, and not easily put back together. It is usually said about things that happen or things people decide — a war, a storm, a policy, a choice — rather than about a person.

毀滅性的